Historically, matriarchal rulers have dominated the world. Many women leaders have left their mark on the quilt of political history, namely Queen Elizabeth I, Benazir Bhutto, Margaret Thatcher and Queen Nzingha of Angola among others. Likewise, the skill sets they displayed included characteristics ranging from being caring and confident to assertive and even bellicose.
Currently, there are 12 women scattered across several continents that hold the political reins of their nations in their hands. In Europe, there is Mary McAleese, Taraja Halonen and Doris Leuthard who are the presidents of Ireland, Finland and Switzerland respectively. In Germany, Lithuania and Croatia the leaders are Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Dalia Grybauskaite and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, respectively. Women have proven to be both viable candidates and exceptional leaders in India (President Pratibha Patil), the Philippines (President Cloria Macapagal Arroyo), Liberia (Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, pictured above), Argentina (President Cristina Fernandez) and Bangladesh (Prime Minister Seikh Hasina Wajed).
Unlike many men who take office with minimal qualifications — most contemporary women leaders have to outperfom their male confederates. Angela Merkel studied physics in Templin and at the University of Leipzig, as well as worked and studied at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the current president of Liberia, studied economics at the College of West Africa in Monrovia and obtained a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the first woman president of Argentina, studied law at the National University of La Plata.
It is apparent that courage and character are essential for women leaders and appears to be one of the more distinct qualities they evince in comparison to men. For example, Prime Minister Seikh Hasina Wajed, at the time of the Liberation War of 1971, was imprisoned by the Pakistani occupation army along with her entire family and was later placed on house arrest in 1984. In 1982, she was the first to protest against obtaining state power through military coups d’état.
The primary difference between women and men with respect to being world leaders is their gender, but in many cases women leaders exceed what we expect in terms of duty, dedication and civil understanding compared to many men. However, I will concede that they also have one quality that places them above men in most instances — understanding their role as mothers and understanding their roles in maintaining families, which in their eyes, includes their community, neighborhoods and nation.
–torrance stephens, ph.d.
For more with Dr. Stephens, visit twitter.com/rawdawgbuffalo and rawdawgb.blogspot.com.
